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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27409366">Tusk</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01'>demonsushi01</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stoneheart: Side Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Animal Death, Animal Sacrifice, Death Threats, M/M, Mild Gore, POV Second Person, Prince Lance (Voltron), Skips provided, gargoyle keith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:08:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27409366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><strong>Tusk - /təsk/</strong>METAPHORICAL•HIGH GALRAN<br/><em>Symbolism</em><br/></p><blockquote>
  <p>1. Wild, uncontrollable anger<br/>2. Vengeance<br/>Ex. “His tusk was sharpened, his actions bloody.”<br/></p>
</blockquote><em>Slang</em><br/><blockquote>
  <p>1. Power born from the mouth (ie: persuasion)<br/>Ex. “You should use your tusks to convince him.”</p>
</blockquote>---<br/>Side story for Stoneheart. Keith's perspective of events just after Chapter 41. I do recommend you read it first.
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stoneheart: Side Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tusk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/17467529">Stoneheart</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01">demonsushi01</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Animal cruelty/sacrifice starts "A wild boar. You dive down for it, knowing it’s never had a predator come from the air before."  And ends with "The guard gasps and it sounds so loud in the silence of the night."<br/>[essentially, Keith uses a wild boar as a demonstration to the Blades]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>        You have had many run-ins with the Blades of Marmora over the last thousand years. You’ve had them scold you as a child for playing with the tricksters that liked to creep around the pond. You’ve had them give you and Axca a slap on the wrist for trying to summon things across the realms. Most frequently, you’ve had them chastise you for <em> terrorizing </em> the castle or the town when you’re just doing your best to make it through each night. </p><p>        But this? This takes the whole cake. </p><p>        Lance with his spirit broken, body bruised, and Quintessence sealed away is far past the line that divides acceptable from unacceptable. Never have they ever before hurt you in this manner, and you will make them pay for it. </p><p>        Because Lance is the one good thing you’ve had since you were cursed. To the point where you’ve even considered fate to be at work even though it’s a terribly wicked thing. You hold his small hands in yours, the fragile things. You watch him sleep for a few more moments before you kiss his knuckles, his forehead, his cheek, and stand up. </p><p>        You check all your protection wards are in place. Some you learned from Haggar, some from books you’ve read over the years, and some from watching your advisor perform mage rites while you ‘slept’. You know that each one burns fiercely, bound to hurt anyone should they try to force their way in here. </p><p>        Lance hums in his sleep and you glance at him. You wait until you’re sure he’s asleep again before stepping to his balcony. The first thing you do is crawl over to King Shiro’s room. You have to be careful of the open door when you peek in. He paces around his room while his advisor watches him. </p><p>        The pair are stressed about the conditions Lance was found in. You narrow your eyes at the advisor, fully aware he knows more than he’s letting King Shiro in on. They mention High Priestess Honerva coming by tomorrow. They talk about contacting Lance’s family and of the wedding between him and Princess Allura.</p><p>        You leave them be to their political nonsense. It’s the one thing you definitely don’t miss about being fully human. No kingdom to rule, no worries. Sure you’re absolutely bored out of your mind but you don’t have to worry about accidentally condemning a whole country. You take off for the rooftops of the castle.</p><p>        It takes you a moment before you locate the captain of the guard. You watch his patrol first, knowing the others will follow his lead. With the number of people on duty today, you can’t risk messing anything up. You see an opening and you take it. You leap off the castle and take to the skies. </p><p>        See, you never exactly <em> promised </em> Lance you wouldn’t do something stupid. You had been honest with him on that one. And you know the half-formed plan in your head is one hundred percent stupid. You’re not just kicking the hornet’s nest, you’re juggling it. At least the flight into the forest helps clear your mind.</p><p>        You allow yourself one brief detour into the town. You drop down on the abandoned streets and stick close to the shadows. The residents are still cleaning up after the party last night and you don’t want to deal with them. You nab a Murmur mask off a stall while the vendor is preoccupied with counting up their cash. </p><p><em>         The Blades still use these, right? </em> You find yourself hoping that’s true as you make your way back through the town for an exit. You hold the mask in your hand, thumb tracing over its shape. You struggle to remember what your mother’s looked like. You know she had one, but you can’t quite recall it’s pattern. </p><p>        You shake your head and tie the mask around your neck. You run down a large stretch of road, wings spreading out as you lift off into the air. It’s easy to find the forest and you glide low through the trees. If an outsider was to watch you, they’d assume you’d never known a day without flying. They wouldn’t know of the pain it was to learn how to deal with the weight of your wings, the new muscle you had to develop for longer and longer flights, and the many, <em> many </em>, failed landings you’ve done. </p><p>        You track a set of hoofprints in the snow of a clearing, following them until you see exactly what you want. A wild boar. You dive down for it, knowing it’s never had a predator come from the air before. You sink your claws into its sides and ignore the loud squealing it makes, lifting you both up into the air. It squirms in your hold and you let it go over a rocky outcropping. </p><p>        It bounces, twitches, and remains still. You land next to it, hesitant as you approach it. It’s struggling for a few moments, barely breathing. </p><p> “I’m sorry.” You murmur and you rest your hand over its side. “Your sacrifice will not go unknown and your blood will threaten the enemy’s will as is respected by a fearsome warrior.” The prayer slips past your lips without a second thought as you pick it up once more. </p><p>        You fly yourself back to the castle and settle the dead boar behind the old chapel. You can feel the ghosts of dark rites try to cling to your body. They’re happy you’re here, happy you’re submitting to rage, happy to feed off you.</p><p>
  <em>         Gods below you hate this place. </em>
</p><p>        You pull away from them for now. You head off to the garrison quickly, sticking close to the shadows and slipping inside from a false wall on the outside of the building. It lets you get close to the armory on the other side of the barracks. You pick up one of the pikes and bring it back out to the chapel.</p><p>        You stand in front of the damned place and take a quick breath, letting your Quintessence spread across the ground. A handy tripwire to let you know when to leave. You drive the pike into the ground in front of the door, bladed tip staying upright. You heft the boar up once more and set it much closer to where you need it.</p><p> “Thank you again, for your sacrifice.” You murmur to it, digging your claws into its neck. You twist and pull and your stomach balls into knots at the sickening squelch as the head comes off. You sink the head onto the sharp end of the pike sticking out of the ground. Then you’re untying the mask from around your neck and tying it to the boar’s face.</p><p>        While the boar might not be seen as the fierce warrior he once was in your time, you know it will be seen as a threat to King Shiro regardless. A boar took his arm and left the scar over his face after all. Satisfied with how that looks you go back to the boar’s body.</p><p>        You dip your hand in the blood and stare at the door to the old chapel. This message is for Kolivan, with that in mind, you press your bloody fingertips against the door. You write in the words most familiar to you, the words you had once been taught so long ago. </p><p> “Touch him again and I will bring my wrath down upon your entire bloodline. You will be granted no mercy. You will beg for death.” You murmur as you write. You have to keep refreshing the blood over your fingers. You sign your decree with your family’s crest, knowing that the people who see it will know it’s from you, the cursed and evil Beast. You stand back and look at what you have.</p><p> “Needs a bit more.” You tap your jaw. You reach out with your Quintessence and sink it into the boar’s body. With a few quick jerks, you start to tear it into pieces. It’s a gorey trail from the head to the chapel itself. You fling smaller pieces around letting them scatter.</p><p> “That’s more like it.” You smirk at your handiwork. “Just in time too.” You find yourself murmuring when someone crosses through your Quintessence, on their patrol. You wipe the extra blood on your hands over your face and body. </p><p>        The guard gasps and it sounds so loud in the silence of the night. You whip around, growling deep in your chest. You lurch toward the frightened guard who babbles for mercy.</p><p> “Run.” You dare them. They book it toward the castle and you shake your head. </p><p>        You go to the pond, carve a hole into the ice water, and wash the blood off. You can hear the sharp whistle that rings out, alerting the other guards to mobilize. You duck into the shadows near the wall as you curiously follow at a safe distance. </p><p>        The captain and, to your surprise, King Shiro lead the way to the haunted grounds, the earth delighted by the blood spilled upon it once more. King Shiro falters when he sees the boar’s head. The captain however continues forward, taking in the message you’ve left for them.</p><p> “Your Majesty.” </p><p> “What does it say?” </p><p> “I am unsure. It appears to be a very old dialect of Galran.”</p><p> “Let’s get in contact with Kolivan then.” King Shiro finally looks away from the head, his brows furrowing when he stares at the message. “Wait.” He steps closer to the doors, taking a torch from one of the others. He leans close to the family crest.</p><p> “Is that…?” The captain murmurs. </p><p> “The seal for the Kogane family.” King Shiro frowns and looks over to his captain. There’s a whisper through the guards as they wonder what this means in full. But for the captain and King Shiro, they don’t need to theorize. </p><p> “The Beast.” You catch King Shiro say so quietly it nearly gets swallowed up by the hushed conversations around him. </p><p> “I will fetch Kolivan immediately.” The captain bows for his king and brings a few of his men with him as they head back to relay the message they need to. </p><p> “Everyone else, leave everything as is here. We need this area undisturbed for a full investigation in the daylight. Please, stick close to the Alteans and Lance. We don’t want them seeing this.” King Shiro instructs the people who remain. They salute him and head back to the castle.</p><p>        King Shiro doesn’t right away. He lingers near the door and stares at the boar’s head. You don’t flinch in the slightest when he turns to stare at where you are. Your dark vision is better than his. It’s very unlikely he can even see you.</p><p> “Are you there, Beast?” King Shiro calls. You tilt your head curiously, wondering why he’s choosing to deal with you alone. You make no noise, give him no response, and he squints in the dark trying to see you.</p><p> “If you are there, you leave our guests alone. If you plan on hurting anyone, visitors, or otherwise, you take me first.” </p><p> “Brave.” You chuckle and he flinches. </p><p> “I’m not afraid of you. I refuse to let you hurt anyone.”</p><p> “<b> <em>Sleep tight, Your Majesty.</em> </b>” High Galran spills off your tongue, a form that you know King Shiro understands. You turn and take off for your room. If he catches you in the night sky he doesn’t react. </p><p>        You don’t land on your balcony, instead landing on Lance’s old one. You have to fetch his stars after all. You figure it’d be a nice thing for him to wake up to other than the news of your threat. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to scream at me in the comments below or over at Demon-Sushi on tumblr</p></blockquote></div></div>
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